Blessings from a Community
I have written about my son Tyler before. Born at 1 lb. 5 oz., he amazes me every day with his cheerful nature, his quirky sense of humor and his loving heart.
2013 has been a big year for Tyler. He graduated from Michigan Career and Technical Institute in June. MCTI is a residential trade school for adults with disabilities who live in Michigan. There are various courses of study that a student can become involved in. Tyler went into the sales program and his time spent at MCTI was worthwhile. Living on his own for the first time required him to gain new skills. Then, he graduated.
Like so many other graduates, Tyler was not able to find a job. He put in applications at all kinds of places. No response. So, he's hanging out at home. Uh, not in MY home! We work at my home!
One afternoon I was sitting in the backyard thinking and praying about Tyler and his situation. I thought, "What does Tyler like to do that other people don't?" I thought about how he has done our bottle returns for years, a task I don't like doing. In Michigan, we have a 10 cent deposit on carbonated beverages in bottles and cans. You pay the deposit when you purchase the beverage, and get it back when you return them. This is an effort to help keep our roadways clean and encourage recycling. I thought, if I don't like doing this task, maybe other people don't like doing it, and maybe they'd be willing to pay someone else to do it. I talked to Tyler about it. He liked the idea a lot, and Tyler's Bottle Service was born.
We created flyers, and started putting them out around our neighborhood. Then, we received approval from the State to hire a driver/assistant for Tyler, for 15 hours a week. YAY! They started putting out flyers, averaging about 500 a week. Then, the requests for pick-ups started coming in. First it was one or two a day, then it increased. The "likes" on his Facebook page started to climb. I sent out press releases to local media outlets. The Spinal Column contacted us wanting to do an interview with Tyler.
Tyler was very excited about the interview, and anxiously watched the newspaper for the article to appear. He was thrilled when it ran! You can read the article here.
Since then, things have exploded. He is now doing up to 10 pick-ups a day. While his driver works 3 days a week, we are often taking him on off days to complete requests. It's thrilling to see him so excited and motivated about his new job.
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What has impressed me more is the response from the community. People have emailed asking to put advertisements for Tyler's service in their home owner association newsletters. People have referred friends and have shared the Facebook page, and pose for pictures with him for his page. Businesses have contacted him asking him for monthly pick-ups. One Township has asked him to start handling their returnables on a monthly basis. Many people don't ask for their portion of the refund, but donate it right to Tyler. And, people have started giving him extremely generous Christmas gifts. It's incredible how kind people are being.
I am overwhelmed by the generousity, compassion and love that is pouring in for my son and his little enterprise. So many people talk about how self-centered people are. They talk about there being no more sense of community, or helping their fellow man. We are experiencing the opposite. We feel like the community has wrapped their arms around Tyler. We are deeply blessed and humbled by the response. We feel incredibly grateful that we live in a community that is so supportive. We had no expectations of things growing like this, and we're standing back in awe as we watch things happen.
We are excited about the possibilities that 2014 brings for Tyler and his business. We're scrambling to set systems in place to handle all the scheduling, books, etc. Who knew we'd need to do all this?! With the rate that it's growing, we're hoping to bring in other individuals like Tyler and get them working too. Everyone needs a reason to get out of bed each day. We're so thankful to our community that they have helped give Tyler a reason to jump out of bed and be excited to face each new work day.
Merry Christmas, and God Bless.
2013 has been a big year for Tyler. He graduated from Michigan Career and Technical Institute in June. MCTI is a residential trade school for adults with disabilities who live in Michigan. There are various courses of study that a student can become involved in. Tyler went into the sales program and his time spent at MCTI was worthwhile. Living on his own for the first time required him to gain new skills. Then, he graduated.
Like so many other graduates, Tyler was not able to find a job. He put in applications at all kinds of places. No response. So, he's hanging out at home. Uh, not in MY home! We work at my home!
One afternoon I was sitting in the backyard thinking and praying about Tyler and his situation. I thought, "What does Tyler like to do that other people don't?" I thought about how he has done our bottle returns for years, a task I don't like doing. In Michigan, we have a 10 cent deposit on carbonated beverages in bottles and cans. You pay the deposit when you purchase the beverage, and get it back when you return them. This is an effort to help keep our roadways clean and encourage recycling. I thought, if I don't like doing this task, maybe other people don't like doing it, and maybe they'd be willing to pay someone else to do it. I talked to Tyler about it. He liked the idea a lot, and Tyler's Bottle Service was born.
We created flyers, and started putting them out around our neighborhood. Then, we received approval from the State to hire a driver/assistant for Tyler, for 15 hours a week. YAY! They started putting out flyers, averaging about 500 a week. Then, the requests for pick-ups started coming in. First it was one or two a day, then it increased. The "likes" on his Facebook page started to climb. I sent out press releases to local media outlets. The Spinal Column contacted us wanting to do an interview with Tyler.
Tyler was very excited about the interview, and anxiously watched the newspaper for the article to appear. He was thrilled when it ran! You can read the article here.
Since then, things have exploded. He is now doing up to 10 pick-ups a day. While his driver works 3 days a week, we are often taking him on off days to complete requests. It's thrilling to see him so excited and motivated about his new job.
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What has impressed me more is the response from the community. People have emailed asking to put advertisements for Tyler's service in their home owner association newsletters. People have referred friends and have shared the Facebook page, and pose for pictures with him for his page. Businesses have contacted him asking him for monthly pick-ups. One Township has asked him to start handling their returnables on a monthly basis. Many people don't ask for their portion of the refund, but donate it right to Tyler. And, people have started giving him extremely generous Christmas gifts. It's incredible how kind people are being.
I am overwhelmed by the generousity, compassion and love that is pouring in for my son and his little enterprise. So many people talk about how self-centered people are. They talk about there being no more sense of community, or helping their fellow man. We are experiencing the opposite. We feel like the community has wrapped their arms around Tyler. We are deeply blessed and humbled by the response. We feel incredibly grateful that we live in a community that is so supportive. We had no expectations of things growing like this, and we're standing back in awe as we watch things happen.
We are excited about the possibilities that 2014 brings for Tyler and his business. We're scrambling to set systems in place to handle all the scheduling, books, etc. Who knew we'd need to do all this?! With the rate that it's growing, we're hoping to bring in other individuals like Tyler and get them working too. Everyone needs a reason to get out of bed each day. We're so thankful to our community that they have helped give Tyler a reason to jump out of bed and be excited to face each new work day.
Merry Christmas, and God Bless.
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I too have a daughter with ongoing needs. She is able to work part time and live independently with considerable supports. Your article touched my heart in a way only another parent could understand. You have done an amazing job my friend !!!
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